The landmark water tower at Cardiff Central station is being refurbished

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Work to transform the appearance of a dilapidated water tower that has greeted travellers arriving at Cardiff Central train station for 80 years has begun.

Scaffolding went up yesterday to start work on the iconic concrete water tower outside Cardiff Central station – with Network Rail planning to paint the sorry exterior brown and beige – the original colours of Great Western Railway, who built the structure in 1932.

The 15m-high Grade II-listed tower – described by its owners Network Rail as one of the “finest examples of Great Western architecture” in Britain – is due to have its new ice-cream style paint job finished within four weeks, weather-permitting, with the work being timed to finish before the start of the Olympics.

The tower was originally built to replenish water supplies of steam locomotive engines, and had been painted with iconic daffodils which became synonymous with the station.

But its new facade has already caused controversy after an earlier, bolder psychedelic design, created by Barry-born artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, was rejected by council planning officers.

Officials said the design failed to preserve the structure’s character and was of “insufficient quality” for the prominent landmark.

The tower – with a concrete, fluted base and a cylindrical water taken – has no comparable Great Western Railway structures.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “As a result, it is Grade II-listed, both on its own merit but also as part of the larger station complex.

“Cardiff Central itself is regarded as the most complete 1930s Great Western Railway station still in existence.”